Ramallah- New US Middle East envoy George Mitchell met early Thursday afternoon with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and the Palestinian leadership, for discussions on how to achieve a durable ceasefire between Israel and the Islamic Hamas movement.

Mitchell, on his first visit to the region since being tapped for the envoy post last week, met Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni and Defence Minister Ehud Barak on Wednesday, shortly after arriving in Israel from Cairo. (dpa)